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NYS Parent Guide
 

Nurturing Your Family

Building Strong Families: Protective Factors

Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development

Protective Factor: Knowledge of parenting and child development

It doesn’t take long to figure out that your parenting changes as your child grows. When you think about what you did as a parent of a newborn, think about how different it was from what you did with your one-year-old; and what you are doing today with your toddler.

When you understand your child’s developmental stage and provide the right kinds of support and nurturing, you are building a stronger family—and child. There are many sources of information about child development and parenting—check with your local librarian!

Here are some questions to ask about your toddler:

  • Thinking about your toddler, what have you learned about child development that helped you as a parent?
  • Thinking about your own parenting, what are the things you do very well as you parent your toddler?
  • What might you want to work on to make it easier for you and better for your child?
  • How does your understanding of your toddler’s development helps you to provide the right kind of guidance for your toddler?

Here are some questions to ask about your two-year-old:

  • What do you like best about your two-year-old?
  • What has surprised you about your toddler’s development?
  • What is harder about parenting a two-year-old compared to an infant?
  • What do you do as a parent to promote your toddler’s development?
  • When you have a concern or question about your toddler or your parenting, who or what do you rely on for information and guidance?
  • In what ways does understanding your own parenting style, strengths and practice (behaviors) influence how you support your toddler’s learning and development?
additional resources My E-Journal
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Just a word of encouragement:

This is a challenging phase of development, but it will not last forever. Remember, your job is to patiently, consistently and lovingly help your toddler grow through it!

Did you know

Understanding your child’s development and how that changes what you are doing as a parent is called developmental parenting: “the kind of parenting that values a child’s development, supports a child’s development, and changes along with a child’s development. It is warm, responsive, encouraging, and communicative.” ROGGMAN, BOYCE & INNOCENTI P.1. 2008